Joe Louis, America's Hero......Betrayed.

[witherspoon]

I just watched this documentary, heartbreaking how Louis was hounded by the IRS despite his wholehearted contribution to the war effort.
But one thing really made me angry about this film, it's treatment of Max Schmeling is a disgrace.
OK, the jewish guy had a point in saying that 'we wanted Louis to kick his ass', as Schmeling appeared to be a willing stooge to the Nazi party at the time.............AND THEN, presented like a central moral to the Louis story was the 'fact' that 'Schmeling, a guy with ties to the Nazi party was made a millionaire by the Coca-Cola company while Louis became a nobody?

Does anybody see anything wrong here?
Couple of major ommissions from Schmelings deeds, maybe?
I am not even going to go into what everybody knows was really the case.
The title of this documentary should be 'MAX SCHMELING BETRAYED'.

[Diamond WEAPON]

I think they were trying to basically talk about how Schmeling certainly didn't have the same type of clout and respect as Louis in the U.S. due to his historical tie as the Nazis' ultimate symbol (whether willing or not) yet HE was the one who got money from Coca-Cola and not Louis. I agree that the tone of the voices of the interviewees was a bit harsh when referring to that though.

[witherspoon]

You are right in saying that Schmelings standing at the time of the Louis rematch was not deserving (in the public eye) of any sympathy, and the documentary was right to depict this.

But anyone who watches this knowing nothing about Louis or Schmeling would come away with the impression that Schmeling did nothing to earn his position of wealth and respect - that he was simply an unredeemed, active Nazi made wealthy by Coca-Cola.
This is surely a slander, by ommission, on Schmeling if you consider that he did everything he could to help jews escape the holocaust and also helped Louis with medical bills in later life.

[Diamond WEAPON]

You are right in saying that Schmelings standing at the time of the Louis rematch was not deserving (in the public eye) of any sympathy, and the documentary was right to depict this.

But anyone who watches this knowing nothing about Louis or Schmeling would come away with the impression that Schmeling did nothing to earn his position of wealth and respect - that he was simply an unredeemed, active Nazi made wealthy by Coca-Cola.
This is surely a slander, by ommission, on Schmeling if you consider that he did everything he could to help jews escape the holocaust and also helped Louis with medical bills in later life.

That's true, it doesn't outright say that Schmeling was an unredeemed active Nazi, but it kind of implies it with the tone of the people being interviewed, what they say and how they say it, so people not in the know could simply assume wrongly that Schmeling was just a bad guy.

That was the one thing I disliked about the documentary, because otherwise I thought it was very well done.

[witherspoon]

Yeah, it was ok other than the Schmeling issue - they could have stretched it out with more footage of Joe's fights, though.

I think Louis' experience of the civil rights issues and how his time in the armed forces affected him were done very well.

[bollox]

Anyone that portrays Shmeling as a nazi sympathiser / stooge is plain wrong :x What would have happened to Max if he'd openly defied the nazis??? Exactly

And the IRS hounding of Joe is an indictment on the US of the day and should never be put side by side with Max's circumstances

[witherspoon]

http://www.auschwitz.dk/schmeling.htm
A website dedicated to AUSCHWITZ which proclaims Max Schmeling a HERO!
Says it all.

Incidentally, the web site also states that Max PURCHASED his Coca-Cola franchise, so it's not like he was just handed ready dough by the symbolic giant of American capitalism - as the film suggests.

[I Feel Fine]

I'm sure other WWII veterans had their own taxes to pay. I'm sure Iraq veterans have their own taxes to pay as well. I don't see any documentaries about them. He had mobsters paying off some of his debts for him, things could have been worse.

[Robinson]

Wasnt the issue with Louis is that the purses that he donated
to Army and Navy relief funds, he did not file for his tax return
and thats how the IRS got into him ?

I dont think it was an issue of his service, but because he paid
no tax on those purses when he handed them over the the Govt.

Bureaucracy is a splendidly daft thing at times.

[I Feel Fine]

Yes, I'm perfectly aware of what happened with Louis' taxes. But the fact remains. Why should we feel sorry for Louis? I'm not sure that other fighters would get a pass for taking money from the mob, either, though I could be wrong about that point.

[Robinson]

I am not supporting his heroin addiction, his mixing it with
nefarious sorts....

I feel sorry for Louis because he like many other fighters
let himself down....they had so much for so few years and
then sadly lived on good memories and all that hard work of
their peak years.

Whether Louis was taken advantage off, or whether he swindled
his money away is not entirely known by me..what I do know is
that Louis is one of the best in ring craftsmen and his legacy
will always be around.

[Brutu]

Yeah, I dont like those America bashing shows by people who (probably)hate themselves ,their parents and also their own country.
and IMOP Joe Louis would not have liked the tone of that HBO show either
taking the focus off his accomplishments and making him into some kind of a victim.
For one thing,the author dude bitching about how America gave Schmeling a Coco-Cola franchise in West Germany and he became rich because of it.
Well could Joe Louis speak German fluently enough to sell it there?
Also its a known fact that the Joe Louis punch ,mentioned,went out of buisness around 1953,because Joe Louis himself didnt feel up to promoting it and wanted to play golf and gamble instead (he admits it himself in his autobigraphy!)

[Brutu]

I think it could have been all resolved if Joe Louis's manager(s),promoters and anyone else who made money from being associated with him,just pooled their money and paid the IRS off,instead
of just letting it linger for some ten years,before the U.S Goverment just stopped trying to collect it.
Seemed to be a running gag when ever Joe Louis appeared on those 1950's gameshows and the hosts asked him about it.

[ben geoghegan]

That documentary worked real hard to make Joe Louis out to be a victim. Louis was pro-America his entire life and opposed Ali's stance on the draft. He supported Wendell Willkie over FDR for president. Louis didn't count his own money and that was his downfall. He was a bad spendthrift like John L. Sullivan and so many other fighters who had no respect for money. Add to that the raft of bad business investments like Sugar Ray Robinson had. If you go back to the news articles of the time the Schmeling-Louis boxing match was not the emotional investment people put in it after the fact beyond the implications within boxing. It was just two fighters meeting, and many Americans picked Schmeling to win. The crowd reactions don't support the story told now that it was Louis vs Hitler. It is after all, just boxing

[Brutu]

Yeah,IMOP If Joe Louis was still alive(he be about 94 years old) he would gone down to the HBO studios and punched whoever it was in their nose that used him to make an anti-American propoganda show,to poison the minds of impressinable youths who get all they know about socioty from MTV)
man,there were a lot of dumb statements in that show.like Joe Louis gave up 4 prime years of his life to give boxing exhibitions for the Army.Well didnt the whole dang world give up 4 prime years of everyone lives during WWII?
That one dude said he shouldnt have even joined the Army because how rotten America was treating him.Can you imagine the fall out if Joe Louis refused to acknowledge the German and Japanese aggression against the world in 1942?
He would have had to move to New Gunea or somewhwere.

[Brutu]

Check out the DVD THE FIGHT from Amercican Experience that aired on PBS a couple years ago,its better.